After a 20-10-2-1 start to the 2025-26 season, the Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds were able to earn themselves a top-five finish in the OHL's Western Conference standings, marking their third top-five finish in five seasons. Despite playing .500 hockey to close out the regular season, the Greyhounds are going to enter the playoffs as one of the more dangerous sides in the Western Conference; not only do they have the goaltending required to go on a deep playoff run, but they also boast offensive pieces like Marco Mignosa, who is tied for sixth in the OHL in points.
The London Knights will be entering this series as the two-time defending J. Ross Robertson Cup champions, but they haven't exactly been playing as such. After finishing in the Western Conference's top two spots in each of the last four seasons (that run includes two first-place finishes in 2023-24 and 2024-25), the Knights would fall a handful of places during the 2025-26 season.
The numbers do show that these two teams are close, but the season series doesn't necessarily agree. Of the four regular season meetings, three of them went London's way; two of those wins were decided in a shootout. The fourth game was a 5-2 victory for the Greyhounds.
Carter George is the big name in this series, but London can counter with two goaltenders of equal calibre
If you're a fan of goaltending, this is the first-round series for you.
And it's not just the Greyhounds who have the star goaltending. London will enter this series with two goaltenders who are more than capable of putting up a strong performance.
Their names? Sebastian Gatto and Aleksei Medvedev.
Gatto will enter the series against Sault Ste Marie with the third best goals against average in the OHL (2.29) and the fourth-best save percentage (.919). He also has three shutouts to his name and is tied for the eighth-most wins on the season alongside North Bay's Jack Lisson and Saginaw's Stepan Shurygin.
Medvedev's numbers might not be as flashy as Gatto's but he does hold a winning record through 35 starts; his record over that span is 16-14-2-1 (wins, losses, overtime losses, shootout losses).
On the other end of the series, George enters his first postseason tournament as a Greyhound off the heels of some of his best hockey yet. Through his first 23 starts for the Greyhounds, George has a record of 13-7-3 (wins, losses, overtime losses), a goals against average of 2.33, and a .916 save percentage. He'll be backed up by Landon Miller, who boasts a 21-12-0-2 record, a 2.82 goals against average, and a .890 save percentage; Miller also has three shutouts to his name.
Final prediction: Greyhounds in seven
This is a series that I've been going back-and-forth on for a couple days now.
On one hand, this is a London Knights side that has made it to each of the last three OHL championship rounds and that, before this season, had not failed to win their division since 2018.
On the other hand, the Greyhounds have proved that their 2023-24 season, which saw them finish with 95 points and fall a game shy of the Western Conference Final, was not a fluke and that they are a force to be reckoned with in the Western Conference.
This series could very well go the distance and it could take a handful of goaltending masterclasses to even shift the needle a few inches. Ultimately, Sault Ste Marie should be able to solve London's goaltending first and more consistently, allowing the Greyhounds to get just enough offence to send the two-time OHL champions into an early offseason.